Those on pedestals ripe for a fall

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

February 04, 2013

The recent Manti T'eo hoax has called to my attention the overwhelming obligation and responsibility that rests on the shoulders of our nation's college athletes. In times of tragedy and scandal, it seems the public confuses the maturity of one's athletic abilities with the maturity of the individual in terms of age. When an NCAA story breaks, those involved are expected to act as professional adults when, in reality, they are still in school and often very young.

As Katie Couric leaned into Manti, shaking her head, her black rimmed glasses perched on the tip of her nose, I was reminded of a stern professor attempting to extract a confession from a guilty student. This showed, in Manti, a shadow of a reprimanded student whose innocence was lost to the unforgiving nature of modern sports media. As a nation, we hail our athletes as superhumans, gods even. But as we've seen in Te'o, this enormous amount of pressure can shake even the steadiest of defenders. We must learn the difference between what happens on the field and what happens behind closed doors. In short, we need to take our athletes off of the pedestals from which they too often fall.

Advertisement

Allison SchoenfeldMishawaka

For the richLet me get this straight. All national debt we humans owe worldwide isn't owed to Klingons, Martians or little green men from Alpha Centauri. We owe it to some fellow humans living in regal splendor with elevators for their Cadillacs and six-car garages.

Am I to understand that we, the unwealthy, are to commiserate with these ultra-rich jackals who shelter trillions in secret bank accounts, avoiding billions in taxes and we're supposed to not raise taxes on them? They are perfectly willing to throw millions of us poor under the thundering hooves of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse for delinquent payments. We're supposed to give them more tax breaks?Gurdjieff was right. Who needs a biblical satan running loose when such diabolically arrogant cretins extort our health and wealth while yachting off to those Cayman Island banks and all the while funneling money to lobbyists for another war.

We should ban the GOP for all manner of treasonous behavior like invading other nations on false charges, sabotaging our triple-A credit rating and taking an oath on taxes over and above their constitutional oaths of office.

Paul MoehleAlameda, Calif.The writer is a former Mishawaka resident.

Soap operaStay tuned for another heart-wrenching episode of "As the Dome Turns" starring Manti Te'o as the hapless hero.

James L. HammonsOsceola

Less IrishI agree with the writer who wrote that Manti Te'o did not deserve being on the front page. I read The Tribune for news, not frivolity.

This fall my Saturday mornings consisted of getting up, putting on the coffee, getting The Tribune and taking the front page sports news about Notre Dame football and wadding it up and putting it in the trash. Why is it the only journalism going around is sports?

There is a section for sports -- put it there and give more business news. It's funny, I never see the comics on the front page. Or maybe I have.